Art and The Internet

I believe that right now there are more artists on this Planet, more writers choosing to self-publish or just posting their stories on blogs, more painters selling prints and original artwork on deviantart, etsy, and the likes, more sculptors, more singers and aspiring movie makers trying to get more subscribers on YouTube than ever before.

And I believe this is a good thing. Modern day technology allows us to achieve our most secret of yearnings: to share our art with the world. Maybe you’re reading this post and you’re telling yourself that you don’t make art for that. You create art just for yourself. But for that to be true, you’d never want anyone to read your stories. You’d be the only one who knows you’re a writer or painter or singer.

But who can fight the urge? I know I can’t. When I write something I think it’s good, I want to share it with the world. I want to inspire in people what the words, as I wrote them, inspired in me. I want to show people a world that’s different, and yet so similar, to the one they live in.

This has nothing to do with others having to validate your art. Or having to like it. The matter of fact is that art doesn’t have to be pretty, doesn’t have to be understood by everyone. But if has to be shared, it has to be viewed, listened to, or read.

And that’s what makes the Internet such a great tool for artists. Social media allows us to reach out and find the ones who are truly interested in our art. We get to share ideas and we get to connect and interact with like-minded individuals.

We can do all this for free.

I can’t deny the fact that without an Internet connection, without being able to sell my books on Amazon, without this blog, I wouldn’t be the writer I am today. When you can’t find someone to read your stories… it doesn’t take long before you run out of confidence.

When you make your art… you’re all alone. And most people will never be able to understand you or your passion. You want for people to feel something about your art. That’s all you want. Even if they hate it, it’s still better than to be invisible.

I’m the product of the 21st century. Living so far away from the vast majority of you… and yet, I’m able to present my ideas and thoughts to you, I’m able to share my art with you… truth is, you can’t put a price tag on that. You can’t buy the feeling you get when someone e-mails you and tells you they’ve loved your story.

Your words.

Your vision.

Your passion.

Your hard-work.

Some people say that in this life we’re all alone, that we can’t count on anyone else for help. We need to be strong enough to survive on our own. Yes, this might be true, but we also need others. We’re social creatures. That’s what made us into the dominant species on this planet in the first place. We want for others to understand us, to feel the same way we feel, we want to know we’re not alone, that we’re just as crazy in love as someone living a thousand miles away.

I can so relate to this, I just started my blog about 2 weeks ago, have always wanted to write, was an art teacher for 10 years prior and now a stay at home mom trying to establish myself again as a working artist
Well said and well understood